Focus Partners Wealth Boosts Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in Linde PLC shares by 16.5%, holding a total of 122,188 shares valued at approximately $56.9 million as per their latest SEC filing.
• Several analysts have given positive ratings for Linde, with a consensus "Buy" rating and an average target price of $519.63, indicating confidence in the company's performance.
• Linde recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.3%, with a dividend payout ratio of 42.67%.

Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 16.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 122,188 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,327 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in Linde were worth $56,897,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategy Asset Managers LLC grew its position in Linde by 2.8% during the first quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 834 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 999 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,207 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 816 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Enterprise Financial Services Corp grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 647 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on LIN shares. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $519.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total value of $23,815,274.42. Following the sale, the director directly owned 480,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $472.70 on Thursday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $472.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $462.62. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $221.65 billion, a PE ratio of 33.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.85 earnings per share. Linde has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.300-16.500 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 4.100-4.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.67%.

About Linde

Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South Pacific. It offers atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases; and process gases, such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene.

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